DEVELOPERS, PROPERTY CYCLES AND LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: THE CASE OF

The interaction between the property market cycle and the development industry at the local level is examined. The Shef-field office market is used as an example. Market trends result in limited periods of development profitability. Developers therefore face a difficult operational environment and adopt different tactics to cope with it. Some are more successful than others. The implications for the development sector and for the local economic development process are considered. PROPERTY AND POLICY Property-based economic development policies have a consider-able history in Britain. Industrial estates developed by public agencies were one measure adopted to reduce the high rate of unemployment prevailing in places such as South Wales and the North-East in the inter-war period (Ratcliffe, 1978). Local authorities and other public agencies, such as English Estates